Personal Affairs Help Guides

In England and Wales there are two main kinds of powers of attorney: a general or ordinary power of attorney and a lasting power of attorney (LPA)....

A power of attorney is a document in which one person (the donor) appoints another person (the attorney) to act for him or her.  There are two types of document: an ordinary power of attorney and a lasting power of attorney. An ordinary power of attorney is the document used when a donor appoints an attorney(s) to take care of property and financial...

An LPA initiated in England and Wales is not legally binding in any other country, including Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is the institutions in other countries, like hospitals, which decide whether a lasting power of attorney should be recognised....

On occasions, a donor may decide to appoint two attorneys. If this decision is made, the donor will have to decide if the two attorneys will be either 'joint' attorneys or 'joint and independent' attorneys. Joint attorneys are required to act together, meaning they have to reach joint agreement before an action can take place. If one of them is abse...

A donor who is deemed incompetent cannot revoke an LPA, but an ordinary power of attorney is revoked automatically as soon as the donor is found to be incompetent....

A general power of attorney begins straight away while a lasting power of attorney (LPA) begins once it is registered at the Office of the Public Guardian. An ordinary power of attorney will end automatically once the donor is mentally incapacitated or dies. An LPA automatically ends as soon as the donor dies. The donor may revoke a power of attorne...

Once completion of the lasting power of attorney form has taken place, the donor will need to sign it. Also, witnesses, the appointed attorney and the certificate provider will need to add their signatures too. The LPA will then need to be registered, which could take at least 10 weeks. It is not until the registration is complete that the LPA becom...

As all of the signatures and their dates have to be witnessed on an LPA form, another attorney cannot be asked to do the job. A third party is preferable, such as a neighbour or friend who is not related to the donor. Witnesses need to be at least 18 years old. The preferred choice is often the person who provided the LPA in the first place, as he o...

Yes, there is. The first to sign is the donor. The next signature comes from the witness who is usually the provider of the certificate who signs Section 10. The next in line are the attorney(s) and replacement attorneys, who each sign Section 11....

There are two types of certificate providers for LPAs: a knowledge-based provider and a skill-based provider. A knowledge-based provider is a certificate provider who has known the donor for no less than two years. The second kind is a skill-based provider who has relevant professional skills and expertise, like a professional healthcare worker such...